Sounds about right, i mean slitting a persons throat seems so original that i doubt you would have done it without a game giving you that idea. I mean i never shot anyone till i got the idea from GTA because no one would ever think of using a gun to shoot a person. Yes, im being sarcastic.

Why do they blame generic attacks on games? If some one killed someone in the same way as in the movie Seven, then you can say that there was a link. There was an influence. The deaths in Seven are fairly unique and thus can blame that killer watching that movie. But, something as simple as a throat slit, millions of people have died in that way. If you have a knife, the neck is an obvious target to aim for.

I guess the problem with these stories are is that they blame the game, they take away all sense of responsibility and accountability of the child who did it. Yes he way going to attack that kid regardless, just that he could of went for the through cos he saw that it was the best place to go for. We all learn from what we see, adverts, games and newspapers, its all stored in our head and that information can come out when we need it.

I know that there *has* to be some connection, however small, between violent videogames and violent behaviour, whether it greases the wheels or puts ideas in people's heads. But I don't think it is truly biased to think that for something like this to happen there must really be something wrong with the person to begin with. A base lack of empathy that is either natural in an adolescent (we do say they shouldn't play these sorts of games as a rule.) or representative of the small incidence (what was the magic number? 2-3%?) of psychopathy in a given population.

1. the fact that he's 13 and has a child of his own proves that his parents are absent and inneffective, and with the xbox's parental controls, they could have prevented his exposure. although i dont blame the game at all.

2. he slashed the kid's throat deep enough to expose the windpipe and he didn't die? that's pretty hardcore. i usually think of throat-slashing as a death sentence. he's gonna have a badass scar.

The point is they only interacted through the game.

It'd be like 2 people meeting over facebook and the police blaming facebook as without it they never would've met.

oplinger:While I think the parents are to blame here, I can't help but maybe agree to:

"The reporting officer was of the opinion that the violent videogames played online by the accused may have been a factor in his conduct,"

They may have been a factor. Not so much a cause, or even teaching him how to do it. However, stating that it may have had something to do with it in some way, I can't really say he's wrong or right. I do agree that it also may have not helped anything...

I think the game was a factor, in the same way that a cell phone would have been a "factor" if they had been texting insults at each other. The game was the medium the provoking insults were communicated through, nothing more.

As always, there just has to be a reason, it has to be video games, or culture, or society, or whatever else happens to be the thing to beat that week.

This is f*cked up, but video games didn't cause this. The kid that did this was obviously already disturbed, and even if he was specifically trying to act out Gears of War, that just means that if he hadn't played that game something different would have set him off instead. We can't make all of society utterly peaceful, violence free, and safe. That can only happen in a padded room in a mental institution. So this is the story of a kid who is either mentally unstable or a psychopath, and who just happened to play video games.

The simple fact is that as time goes on, more and more violent crime will be blamed on video games, simply because a greater and greater percentage of the population will have become gamers. As always, correlation does not imply causation, as the most basic of statistics courses would teach. But of course politicians, police, and reporters are unfamiliar with such things.

1. the fact that he's 13 and has a child of his own proves that his parents are absent and inneffective, and with the xbox's parental controls, they could have prevented his exposure. although i dont blame the game at all.

2. he slashed the kid's throat deep enough to expose the windpipe and he didn't die? that's pretty hardcore. i usually think of throat-slashing as a death sentence. he's gonna have a badass scar.

The point is they only interacted through the game.

It'd be like 2 people meeting over facebook and the police blaming facebook as without it they never would've met.

i think you meant to quote someone else. i agree with your point entirely, and didnt argue otherwise.

I wonder what they blamed it on before computer games where invented. It used to be heavy metal and satanic music. In fact what should have been responsible adults blamed superstition for lousy parenting. Then heavy metal said "I stand relived" and handed the scapegoat badge over to the gaming industry while failed parenting and neglect was given a leave of absence on the entire fucking issue.

If they had video games back in 1095 to 1291, history would probably blame that for the crusades.

Actually, it doesn't really sound to me like violent videogames are being blamed here, at least not in general. It's the fact that a 13 year old was being allowed to play a violent 18+ game that their acting concerned about, and I don't think any of us disagree with that sentiment. Gears of War probably was a factor in this, but the police aren't blaming this solely on the game. Nobody here is saying that videogames are the devil, just that exposure to them requires some level of control.

Wait... he's thirteen and has a kid of his own? Jesus, I mean I know I'm from the US but this is the UK. I dont know why but I expect them to not be babies having babies.

Honestly though with that crime between assault, attempted murder, or what could ahve been murder I dont know what has the lighter prison sentence. Damn though I dont blame the victim having sleep problems and not wanting to talk about it. I get nervous when anyone's around my throat enough to freak out.

...

thoug I do have to say, I love the captaion for the box art saying its very popular with young people. I dont know why it just makes me laugh.

I'm too tired and my head hurts too much for me to fully comprehend the utter stupidity of this whole situation. It is clear to me that the parents need to be held responsible for letting him get this far, the kid needs to be put into a detention center or something, and the baby needs to be kept as far away as possible from this family.

When is society going to start punishing horrible parents? If you raise a 13 year old throat slasher who's knocking up girls, I want you thrown in prison. If your kid bombs a marathon, I don't want to see you crying on the news declaring your horrible kid's innocence, I want you standing in line in the lethal injection chamber waiting for your turn on the table. If your kid shoots up a school, I want you and your kid to share the same fate. I'm sick of this "blame anything but the parent" mentality. When this throat slasher's kid grows up to be a thug, will the news report on his dad's criminal past? Probably not. They'll probably blame it on video games instead.

OlasDAlmighty:Actually, it doesn't really sound to me like violent videogames are being blamed here, at least not in general. It's the fact that a 13 year old was being allowed to play a violent 18+ game that their acting concerned about, and I don't think any of us disagree with that sentiment. Gears of War probably was a factor in this, but the police aren't blaming this solely on the game. Nobody here is saying that videogames are the devil, just that exposure to them requires some level of control.

i pretty much completely agree with you there.

i remember reading the final interview with ted bundy and he was mentioning pornography and violent movies and saying while its not going to cause someone to comit a crime it will help mold someone who is predisposed to violence for instance.

the complete lack of empathy the suspect showed to his victim rings serious warning bells. i wouldnt be susprised in the slightest if there is a significant criminal history including assaults

Shinsei-J:Oh god, the blame game again?I now have a queued response for anytime someone goes crey-cray and people try to blame something else. It goes as such.

That's going to be stuck in my head forever now :|

But anyways, this whole accusation is pretty stupid. If they'd met in a public park, you wouldn't blame the park. If they'd met on facebook or something you wouldn- ok wait, maybe they would blame facebook. What is it with these people and ascribing magical aggression-amplifying powers to anything technological?

For further reading, this BBC report on the matter sounds considerably more balanced (whoduvthunkit; original source being the Daily Fail, after all), notes other games as well as GoW3 and also points at how apologetic(!!!) the assailant apparently is.

If you don't want to click the link: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

Still a crazy story, still sounds like a bit of a bampot, but sounds a bit more sympathetic now, non?

Well, clearly, saying his parents should pay more attention to what he does is a useless avenue.

^This. Also:

Horrible story (not unlikely partly bullshit considering DM), but I'd say it has more to do with him being a psychopath and if you want to look at something in his environment, his parents would be a better start than videogames.

Considering that he wouldn't have met the guy if he wasn't playing Gears, then I'd say it is certainly a factor. The problem is that it is a factor that should have been monitored by his parents. Someone must have got the game for him, but a sexually active 13 year old is unlikely to be stable anyway.

Again, gaming was mentioned as a factor, and the gaming community gets all up in arms. Of course it is a factor. A psycho is a psycho whatever, but a psycho who plays violent games is going to be affected by them. It isn't the root cause, but it is factor.

And it's already illegal to carry knives around. Reduces the number of such things happening.

You and me both. It's getting to the point I'm losing interest in being a part of the culture anymore.

Me either, but I'll take a different approach. Let the fundies and conservative demonize and throw stones all they like - they'll always be lacking the needed data to make an informed observation.

Keep gaming, folks. We'll never be part of the gloriously accepted Cultural Mainstream, because there isn't such a thing. We like to think we're all young and open-minded, but even we will find some cause to huff and drop our monocles and clamour about the decay of society. It just hasn't happened yet.

People will always blame something other than the truth if it means that nothing gets done.

In this case, people would blame the non-human unfeeling software instead of an irresponsible parent because of assumptions of parents never being wrong or something along that effect.

Let us hope mob mentality does not take over and distort the truth: that the parents were irresponsible with weaponsand that the child was already mentally ill and the parents did not remedy the situation at all. One may argue that the game was the trigger but who though allowed the child's mental state to become so broken that a simple punishment drives him over the edge: the parents